July

By Hayley Young To watch a Montana sunrise, to look out at the endless skies and see nothing for as far as the eye can see, it’s really no wonder that Montanans want to keep the state just the [...]

Arlyn and Milburn Johnson were nine and eight respectively when the letter arrived. They had only just begun to learn music, two years’ practice under their belts, when a family friend—astounded [...]

By Suzanne Waring The facial lines of Indigenous people tell us of their arduous history. Their native ceremonial clothing indicates that they also celebrated life. F. Winold Reiss traveled to [...]

In 1862, the Homestead Act drew thousands of people to Montana—men and women with dreams of having a place to call their own. More than 150 years later, property ownership in Montana remains a [...]

By Brad Reynolds Paris Gibson was not “creative” in the artistic sense, but none could say that he was without imagination. In 1881, at the Great Falls of the Missouri, he wrote, “This scenery, [...]

The Montana Legislature designated Highway 87 between Great Falls and Lewistown as the “Charles M. Russell Trail.” The land continues to stir the imagination and spirit today as it did for a [...]

At the same time Charles M. Russell was painting the West, Charles E. Morris was capturing it with photographs. Orphaned around fifteen, Morris went north to Wyoming and worked as a cowboy. He [...]

The Wolfmen – 1925 1864 Charlie Russell is born the same year Montana becomes a territory. 1880 Russell arrives in Montana for the first time around age 16. 1888 Russell spends time with [...]

“Laugh Kills Lonesome.” Oil on Canvas, 1925. C.M. Russell,, Montana Historical Society MacKay Collection, Helena, MT In 1864, Russell was born in Missouri, far from the Wild West. He came [...]

Mandan Bull Boats and Lodges Courtesy of South Dakota State Historical Society The expansion of the West was inevitable. The abundance of art portraying the West merely sped up the timetable. [...]